On July 5, 1875, Lou Lewis, a former slave, approached former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest with a bouquet of flowers while on stage at the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association’s fair in Memphis, Tennessee. The Pole-Bearers Association consisted of formerly enslaved people and in some ways preceded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The bouquet...
Led by mostly straight Democrats, many southern states including Mississippi and Alabama reduced their economic cost in 1875. The point of these operations was to return the states to fiscal balance and regain power, abolishing their debts. These southern states halted the funding and economic partnership with the railroads, reducing their economic leverage. They also shrank the size and cost of...
In the summer of 1875, Jane Pryor of Vicksburg, Mississippi wrote a warm letter to Caroline Kiger of Warren County in anticipation of the coming week's political events. Encouraging Mrs. Kiger's husband to come to Vicksburg, Pryor wrote: tell him to try and be here 24th in the Great Democratic procession at 6 o'clock in the afternoon that will be tomorrow & we will show him the elegant...
In the summer of 1875, Jane Pryor of Vicksburg, Mississippi wrote a warm letter to Caroline Kiger of Warren County in anticipation of the coming week's political events. Encouraging Mrs. Kiger's husband to come to Vicksburg, Pryor wrote: tell him to try and be here 24th in the Great Democratic procession at 6 o'clock in the afternoon that will be tomorrow & we will show him the elegant...
Ambition ran high for distinguished men of wealthy Virginia families. For these men, there were relatively few jobs besides running a plantation that were suitable for those in their station. One of these jobs was to be a professor at a prestigious university. On July 25th, 1875, John Jaquelin Ambler wrote his brother from Lynchburg about an open professorship at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville,...
Ambition ran high for distinguished men of wealthy Virginia families. For these men, there were relatively few jobs besides running a plantation that were suitable for those in their station. One of these jobs was to be a professor at a prestigious university. On July 25th, 1875, John Jaquelin Ambler wrote his brother from Lynchburg about an open professorship at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville,...
A wanted ad for a man named Jeff Williams appeared in The Daily Mississippi Pilot?s reward section. Williams was a convict who escaped while under lease to a family and working on the Noxubee river levee. The Governor of Mississippi offered 50 dollars for someone to arrest and take Williams to the state penitentiary. The description of the man at large was listed. Along with including his height...
Did we learn anything from the War? The Natchez Weekly Democrat, a local newspaper located in Natchez, Mississippi, asked this question of its readers in more polite terms. In July, 1875, the newspaper lamented the lack of economic development in the form of manufacturing over the previous years in the surrounding area. Southerners in all parts of the former Confederacy were aware that...
In May 1875 Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin H. Bristow struck down upon the infamous Whisky Ring, a public scandal deemed impregnable due to powerful connections, until Bristlow hired private contractors to research the fraud. After the siezure 3 million in taxes was recovered and 110 of the more then 200 persons indicted, 110 were convicted, although President Grant's private secretary Orville...
The American Board of Commissioners met on October 6, 1875, to discuss foreign religious missions. The meetings were held every day and lasted for about one week. The committee consisted of 207 members, of whom 116 were clergymen and ninety-one were laymen. Inside the Board there was another committee that handled all expenses and missionary affairs. That committee was called the Prudential...